A historic location and a magical place...

Last weekend we headed to Glengallan for the seasonal markets (and some Geocaching) because it was Father's Day and we wanted to get out of Warwick.

We checked out the markets and the grounds. The building has been worked on since I last visited over 15 years ago, which lovely to see.

The sky was being very impressive and the weather pleasant. The market stalls were full of locally made things from soap to wooden toys, knitwear to artwork.

These two. Always these two. Jimmy tired of looking at stalls pretty quickly, but was really good and only started running around towards the end of our time walking and looking.

Jimmy makes me think of Christopher Robin - a little boy enjoying his own little world, boldly heading out into the wild. Jimmy was pretty attached to that stick that day AND determined not to have his photo taken.

We stopped for coffees at the Glengallan cafe. It's completely run by volunteers and the coffees were good. So was Jimmy's strawberry milkshake. Refueled, we set off to start Geocaching.

The sky was still amazing while we were out getting our first Geocache. And while we were logging the cache, a man drove up, asked about what we were doing - this is country Queensland - and after we told him, he told us about a spot that might be suitable: the site of a new Landcare project that he is involved with. So, we thought we'd check it out once we'd done all our Geocaching. Keep reading to see the photos.

Snowballs!

On Saturday we had a mission: we were going to take the bus and go to the library. We may have missed the bus... and we may have taken the scenic route to Arrow... and we found snow!

Snow, even nearly one week old snow, and it was excellent for making snowballs! (And stomping in.)

Over the weekend we...

Engaged in local autumn fall activities, starting with a pumpkin patch! And not just any pumpkin patch but a pumpkin patch palooza thanks to K-State peoples, Britts Farm, and our lovely friends and neighbours who drove us there and back again (and shared in the fun and excitement of it all).

Because this was intended for college/university students etc, the start was 7 pm. And yes, we managed to get on that haybale ride.

We did need to sign in and get wristbands. Jimmy included. He wasn't sure about the wristband thing to start with, but soon it was forgotten until we returned home.

It was pretty exciting (and a little bit on the cold side) and it was even more exciting when we noticed one of Jimmy's friends, N, and his family, were on the same haybale ride. (Also, because it was cold, N was wearing a coat, a very nice warm coat.)

The ride took us around the edge of the farm, past different crops, and ended by a cornfield and a cornfield maze (!!). When we started we could still see without torches, but we needed them by the end. We definitely needed torches before we finished and to help select a pumpkin. And by torches I mean torch apps on phones - who carries an actual torch when they're not camping?

Once we had our pumpkin we made our way to the bonfire, found N and his family (they snuck off to the easier maze, once we had relocated the entrance to the hard maze), made and ate our very first s'mores.

Yes folks, we made it through the last 18 months without a single one (we did have plenty of toasted marshmallows while on our road trip). The bonfire was the wrong type of fire for s'mores but they were pretty good - the cracker is not sweet, so the whole thing is (fairly) balanced, for a sweet...

We were given our marching orders by Jimmy, and we couldn't complain - the night was turning cold and we were all out of marshmallows. We may have stopped by the farm shop and looked at the available produce and decorative gourds. They were pretty cute, and these ones, as held by Michael, were small and curiously shaped. If we had the money to spend on pretty or curious things that can't be eaten or worn, we might have spent the $10 required to take a few home. It's ok, we already had a pumpkin to take home.

A sweet, round pumpkin no less. Jimmy was fairly protective of it but was also very keen to help Daddy carve it, but he was also keen to keep putting the stem back on...

Jimmy also helped with the first draft of the face, but Daddy stepped in and made something a little more carvable...

Our little Jack-o-Lantern takes pride of place on the table and Jimmy would like it to be illuminated for every meal, but we're sticking to evenings only, even though the mornings are getting darker and we are almost at the stage when we need a light on to eat breakfast... Winter is coming.

Luna eclipse and blood moon...

As I may have mentioned last week, we were invited to celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with some friends out at Frank Anneberg Park. It was extra special because there was to be a Luna eclipse and a blood moon!

Jimmy had fun running around, kicking a ball around, being chased by me or Daddy.

Sometimes it is very hard to take a photo of Jimmy - he moves so fast! 

We all played our parts helping to set up the lanterns that are crucial to celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival - they were sent to our friend M by her uncle all the way from Hong Kong.

My part was entertaining Jimmy. Jimmy's part was that of "the toddler" running around, making the most of being outside. We also all did a good job of eating the food everyone brought to share. Jimmy wasn't keen on our contribution, but he ate more than his/our (!) fair share of the noodles.

One the sun had set and the moon was lighting the sky and everyone had had their fill of dinner, M brought out two mooncakes (which she bought in New York City). Small but rich and perfect for sharing.

For anyone who hasn't had mooncake before, they are sweet but not Australian/USA style sweet, they are rich and yet they have an egg baked in the middle. Jimmy likes mooncake (Jimmy likes cake).

Yes, we used actual candles. Little ones, about the same size as candles that go on birthday cakes. We went through two per lantern. The lanterns were very pretty, were all safely out of Jimmy's reach, and once we were done at the park the lanterns were all packed up again.

Yes, Jimmy will do well in Hong Kong and China, probably Taiwan too, with his preference for noodles and mooncake. (Oh but he was a grub!)

It seemed like we had just finished eating when the main event started: the eclipse! As soon as we noticed the shadow starting to cover the moon, we quickly packed up and headed for Kansas State University where the Physics Department had telescopes set up to view the event.

I have never, never seen so many people on campus on a Sunday. Never. Lots of people were there, on the quad, sitting around and chatting, lining up on the new pedestrian mall to catch a glimpse through one of three telescopes! We lined up for the one with the shortest queue, although we did spend some time sitting on a grassy knoll watching the eclipse and the ensuing blood moon. It was pretty cool.

The novelty of the occasion was not lost on Jimmy, even though it was well past his bedtime. He had a great time looking at the moon, running around, walking down the mall, taking in the atmosphere. Jimmy is a little obsessed with the moon and I hope he remembers this eclipse.

When we went home, some time after 10 pm, the moon was still a dark red, and the campus was still buzzing. I think we were still buzzing too, because we didn't find our way to bed until nearly (or after 11 pm). All three of us (and probably half the population of Manhattan) were very tired on Monday, but it was soooo worth it. When it comes to celestial events, it usually is.

Over the weekend we...

Went on a mission to find some new shoes for Jimmy's ever growing feet. Our brief: to find the cheapest, best fitting, daycare appropriate shoes. Hopefully Jimmy would like them too.

We trecked out to Goodwill opshop thrift shop and found no shoes for Jimmy there. We stopped at Dillons East and bought supplies for lunch. Jimmy was being his cheeky self and was scaring us with his scary face (he's making it in all these photos, if you couldn't tell).

Scary right?

We checked out the Salvation Army opshop thrift shop and found one pair that would have done the job. For 2 seconds. Before they fell apart. Hmmm...

We ended up buying new shoes. They went on easily, Jimmy said they were good, so they came home with us. I'm sure we spent more on transport and refreshments than the shoes themselves, so perhaps next time I should just order shoes for Jimmy online - only this time I would have bought shoes that would have been too small. Actually, it was good to have Jimmy involved and trying on the shoes, because we had an idea of what size to get and having Jimmy try them on confirmed our guess. And I'm not sure how his feet seem to go up two sizes at a time... but they do.

Another thing that has been happening: Jimmy has started helping with the washing up. Not every time, but some times. It's early days yet, but he's good at rising the inside of cups, and scrubbing the frying pan. Mostly, I think, Jimmy just likes to feel like he's part of what Daddy and Mummy do, which is very sweet, because...

Our little boy started daycare on Monday, so I spent sometime on the weekend making this little pillow for nap times. The pillow is made from an old shirt that was due for repurposing, and the button closure on the pillowcase is also from the same shirt, mostly because there wasn't enough of the bunting fabric for the cover. I'm really happy how it turned out (and there are two pockets on the button side), and I made a bit of a fuss about making it, telling Jimmy that it was for him, for naptime at daycare, that I was making it just for him. And the best part? The bunting fabric I used was leftover from a bigger pillowcase I made for him, so Jimmy has a little bit of home while he naps.

And then on Monday Jimmy had his first day at daycare...